Apology
by DarkFlameFantasy
Summary: Life in the military isn't easy but it's even harder when you are a state alchemist. Colonel Mustang knew that when he recruited his young alchemy prodigy but seeing the bleeding, motionless form of his subordinate, got him thinking that maybe he was at fault for that. Inspired by wild-springflower's story 'Apology'.Rated T for language,mentions of blood & possible character death.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! Long time huh… *nervously chuckles* XD**

 **So I am back with another story, however, this one is inspired by** _ **wild-springflower**_ **'s story 'Apology'.**

 **It was a short one-shot which I incorporated in here as the beginning of this story, from the beginning and until the part where it says "So I'm sorry Fu- I'm sorry, Ed." is written by mentioned author. I highly recommend checking** _ **wild-springflower**_ **'s account; you will find some really good stories and a very captivating writing style.**

 ***Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do not own the profile picture. I do have permission from '** _ **wild-springflower'**_ **t** **o use her story. All I own is the rest of the plot.**

 ***Pairings: None**

 **Thanks** _ **wild-springflower**_ **for allowing me to use your story, I hope that I did just with it and that you approve of it and enjoy it along with everyone else! So here it goes.**

* * *

 **Apology**

 **Chapter 1**

"We've certainly gotten ourselves into a mess this time haven't we?" Mustang chuckled softly, but it quickly turned into a grunt of pain as the action pulled against his fresh wounds.

"You know, I could never understand how it was that you always got into these situations. But I do now, it's just who you are."

The cavern lapsed into silence save the ragged breathing and the incessant _drip_ , _drip_ of water somewhere near the back.

"And I can't help but blame myself. I know you don't," Mustang paused, sighing unsteadily and shrugging his shoulders. "You shouldn't be anywhere near this. And I know you could give a million different excuses but in the end it's simple: You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me. I don't care how many hardships you've faced, _nothing_ can compare to being one of the military's dogs. And for that, I owe you."

Mustang turned to glance at his young charge. Edward had yet to stir, harsh breath snaking in and out through slightly parted lips, blood dribbling down the side of his face in a lazy river of red, golden braid frayed and in shambles.

"I owe you so much more than an apology. But I'm afraid that's all I have to offer." Mustang took a deep, quivering breath, surprised by how hard he had to fight to keep his emotions under control. "So I'm sorry Fu- I'm sorry, Ed."

"And not just for that, I'm sorry for not being able to help, although I pledged to protect you and your brother, I know there's nothing I could do at the moment" he raised his eyes hopelessly at the complete wreckage around them. "I know that we could only wait for help to come but I never thought I would be this useless and it's not even raining" Mustang said, a humourless laugh escaping his parched lips and he almost wished that Edward would get up, flash him that mischievous grin of his and mock him. _Useless colonel bastard!_ But he was only met with silence.

* * *

Minutes and seconds dragged onto long hours and all Mustang hoped, was for the others to have noticed their absence and started a search party. Ed's breathing became even shallower with sweat and blood trickling down his flushed face, so for Ed's sake at least he wished that his team would find them soon.

As more time passed, Mustang grew more and more tired of watching the still face of his subordinate and his worry kept intensifying; Edward didn't as much as stir since he lost consciousness after the collapse, so he decided that the best course of action was to try waking Ed up. He slowly reached for his subordinate, grunting in pain caused by his own injuries and gently nudged Edward's shoulder but to no avail and when he was just about to give up and lean back against the cave's wall he heard groaning from the figure beside him.

"Fullmetal?" More groaning.

"Ed? Come on kid, open your eyes." Mustang said, leaning over the teen's body and brushing his bangs from his face. Ed slowly blinked his unfocused eyes up at him and groggily looked around.

"Col..onel?" he rasped before curling on his side in a coughing fit.

Mustang slowly rubbed the teen's back in circles "Calm down Ed, breathe slowly"

"Colonel, what happened… where, where is the alchemist?" He asked, slowly trying to sit up before the colonel's hands stopped him and gently pushed him back down.

"Stay down Ed. As for the alchemist, he activated some form of alchemic explosion that caused a part of the cave to collapse so currently we are trapped here, I don't know if he managed to escape or got trapped somewhere else though"

" _Don't activate it you idiot!" Edward yelled._

" _I don't take orders from you, kid!" the alchemist sneered and knelt down by the circle._

" _You are going to cause a collapse" Roy bellowed but the alchemist paid their warnings no heed and activated his circle._

"Oh, so what do we do now? Look for an exit?" he asked.

"You have been out for a while there, I checked the whole place, there's no way out and the cave is extremely unstable as it is, so we can't get out with alchemy either. We will just have to wait. I am sure that the team and Alphonse will notice that we took too long and come for us."

"How long have we been gone?" Ed asked, breathing in deeply in a vain attempt to regain his bearings.

"We have been gone for around 4 hours now, I told Hawkeye that we will be back by 2 pm, it's… a bit over 1 pm now." he paused and checked his pocket watch before continuing.

"Well so almost an hour and they will probably wait at least another hour before thinking that there's something wrong then the time they will take to reach here and get out a rescue team, ugh remind me again why can't we just make a way out with alchemy?!" complained Edward.

"Because the place is very unstable Fullmetal, I think you can very well see that or are you too short?" he replied with a taunting smirk.

"Oh shut it, you bastard, I ain't short! Plus that was a _rhetorical_ question, Colonel Idiot." he replied back exasperated, with less heat than expected however, which the Colonel found a bigger reason for concern than he would like to admit. Ed was always pretty enthusiastic and eloquent with his comebacks _to put it politely_ towards anything insulting or even implying his stature or lack there of.

"Hey Ed."

"Mhmm"

"Are you injured anywhere other than that gash on your head?"

"Hm, A gash? That's why my head is bounding like crazy then, I see…" he trailed off, gingerly raising his left hand to touch his head before wincing, letting his hand fall back down beside him and blankly staring at the cave's ceiling.

"Edward!"

"What?"

"I asked if you were injured anywhere else."

"I don't know… but I am pretty sure I have a few cracked ribs, what about you?"

"I do have a deep wound in my thigh but it stopped bleeding already, other than that, nothing big. I am fine just some bruises and cuts here and there" he said trying to sound nonchalant, although that was far from true. Mustang was actually pretty anxious, they have been trapped for over three hours now and are rapidly using up the oxygen, the sound of the boulders holding the cave's structure grinding and shifting echoed around the place, some stone slabs have fallen already. Now, Roy had a gnawing feeling that within the next two hour tops, they will either suffocate to death or get buried under rubble.

A hacking cough interrupted his thoughts and he turned to look at his youngest subordinate, Edward looks more tired by the minute which isn't a good sign, with all honesty he didn't expect Ed to wake up so soon. The kid looked pretty exhausted but Roy was determined not to let Ed fall unconscious again because if he did, he may not wake up after that… _No stop thinking like that and focus Roy!_

"Edward."

"What do ya want now, bastard?" he managed to mutter between his panting.

"I want you to talk to me."

"What the hell?!"

"Edward just keep talking; both of us need to stay awake if we are to leave this place"

"There's nothing to talk to you about, I won't fall asleep or–" his vision blurred before he shook his head to clear it away "anything" he finished.

"Edward, do you think I am an idiot? I can clearly see how exhausted you are, you could very well black out any minute now, so keep talking"

"Yes" he wheezed.

"What?" Roy inquired, face frowning in confusion.

"I said yes, yes I think you are an idiot, you asked right?" he said flashing him a cocky smile that was all fake bravado but he would roll along with it.

"Yes I asked, I just didn't think you would catch that from down there" he finished with a hollow smirk.

"What did ya say? You calling me short?! How dare you, you bastard?! When I can move, I am going to KILL you!" he half yelled, with a renewed surge of energy.

 _Yes keep him angry_ he thought, because that's the only way to keep him going at the moment.

"Oh yes, and how will you do that, pipsqueak?" he teased.

"Shut up you idiot Colonel, I will –" he was cut off by loud groaning noises, then rocks and debris started falling over them.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it! I have to protect him…_

Roy managed to throw himself over Edward before rocks started harshly colliding with his back. A desperate scream of "Colonel!" from the wide-eyed teen under him, pierced through the air and all Roy could think of was _I have to tell him before it's too late, I have to tell him._ In a split second, he looked the teen straight in the eyes, gave him an apologetic smile and slowly but very sincerely whispered "I am sorry Ed" before his world plummeted into darkness as the cave crumbled and gave out on them.

* * *

 **So that's it for chapter one! This maybe a two-shot or a three-shot, I am not sure yet. Anyways hope you enjoyed! Later!**

 ***Next update: 10 July 2017, Monday.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again! I am back with an update, yay! XD**

 **So I decided that this is gonna end up as a three-shot. This chapter is going to be kind of the whole thing from Mustang's team, Hughes' and Al's point of view I guess.**

 **Anyways, if this seems a little bit rushed, well it's because it actually is. I wrote this whole thing today because I needed to update on the date I gave you guys. Basically after I posted my first chapter and said I will update on 10 July, I got caught up in some art contest. I was working on my entry for almost the whole week so I had to write this chapter and upload it today but thank god I managed!**

 ***Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do not own the profile picture. I do have permission from '** _ **wild-springflower'**_ **to use her story. All I own is the rest of the plot.**

 ***Pairings: None**

 **So here you go. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Once Colonel Mustang and Edward left the office to capture the rogue alchemist, Daniel Hamilton, the atmosphere was ten times quieter than usual. Hawkeye was totally intending to enjoy the peace while it lasted, hence her breathing down the necks of the rest of Mustang's team to behave and do their work silently. They were being surprisingly cooperative as she sat doing her own work, with her pistol _threateningly_ lying in plain view on her desk.

Earlier that morning, the Colonel received important intel about the hideout of Daniel Hamilton and was sent out along with Edward under direct orders from the Furhur himself, to capture him. Years ago, Hamilton had applied to the State Alchemists Exam but was turned down after giving his suggestions of ways to interrogate prisoners. His methods were thought to be too unconventional and sadistic… so apparently the series of explosions taking place in Central were his way of getting revenge on the state.

By the afternoon however, the silence became more eerie than peaceful. The colonel was _as much as it was hard to believe_ pretty punctual when it came to his field missions, so when he didn't come back arguing with Fullmetal at 1 pm, a nagging sense of worry washed over Hawkeye and was reflected on the faces of the rest of the team as well.

"Hey Hawkeye, didn't the Colonel say that they will be back by one?" asked Havoc, finally breaking the tense silence in the room.

"Yes." she answered with a frown.

"Well it is almost two." He replied.

"Do you think something happened?" asked Fuery, looking worried.

"I am not sure, he isn't usually this late unless something happened" stated Falman.

A shrill ring interrupted them and Riza reached to answer the phone.

"Colonel Mustang's office, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye speaking"

 _"Hi Lieutenant, it's Alphonse"_

"Oh hey Alphonse, do you need anything?"

 _"Yes, I was wondering, is brother at the office? He is late and I am kind of worried…"_

"Sorry Alphonse but he isn't here. He and the Colonel didn't come back yet." She replied with a slight grimace.

 _"Umm… Brother told me they were going to capture an alchemist who is hiding near the mountains, is that right?"_

"Yes, is something wrong with that?" she asked with a sense of dread at Alphonse's anxious tone.

 _"Well, I heard people talking about a cave collapsing around that area and … what if they were caught in it?"_ he asked frantically, now that he knows his brother and the Colonel are still out there.

Hawkeye stood up and griped the phone tighter before speaking in a clipped tone.

"Alphonse, are you absolutely sure of this information?"

 _"Well no, I just heard it and … and... I don't what to do!"_

"Alphonse, it's okay calm down. We will try organizing a search party as soon as possible, I am sure they are okay" though she was beginning to doubt her own words.

 _"Okay"_ he mumbled and the line went dead.

After putting the phone back down, she rounded on the others and started giving orders.

"Sergeant Fuery, turn on the radio and check for any explosions near caves or mountains. Alphonse just informed me that he heard people talking about a cave collapsing so I want you to confirm that."

"Yes sir!"

"Do you think it's related to Mustang and Ed?" asked Falman.

"Yes I believe so because that's where Hamilton's hideout was said to be around." She answered before turning around towards Havoc.

"I will go ask Lieutenant Colonel Hughes to get clearance for heading out with a search party. Once I have the permission and Sergeant Fuery confirms that there was a collapse, I want you to come to the Lieutenant Colonel's office to gather the rescue team, medics and at least three ambulances."

"Yes sir!"

After Hawkeye left the office, everyone turned to Fuery who was in the middle of connecting wires and adjusting his radio.

"Found anything?" asked Falman.

"Give me a moment" he said and resumed his fiddling before static noises started emitting from the device and he started switching channels.

"Stop there!" yelled Breda.

 _"-there have been increasing reports from people living near the mountains about an explosion followed by a collapse. Thankfully no civilians were caught in anything because the cave-"_

"Okay I will go inform Hawkeye and Hughes about this, then round up the rescue team and medics" Havoc said urgently before leaving the office.

* * *

Around 20 minutes later, Hughes burst into the office, closely followed by Hawkeye and Havoc. Everyone perked up at their entrance including the recently present suit of armor.

"Alphonse, what are you doing here?" asked Havoc surprised.

"I am going to go with you" he said with determination.

"But Alphonse-" started Hawkeye.

"No I have to come, my brother is missing and possibly injured! You can't stop me, please Lieutenant!"

"Okay, Alphonse calm down, we don't have time for this, just tag along." Hughes said before straightening up and calling out in an authoritative tone.

"First Lieutenant Hawkeye, Second Lieutenant Havoc, you are going to accompany me and my team to find Colonel Mustang and Major Elric. Second Lieutenant Breda, I want you to contact the hospital and have them ready to receive at least three patients who might be suffering from life threatening injuries"

A chorus of "Yes sir" was said before Hughes, Hawkeye, Havoc and Alphonse left the office to meet up with the rescue team and medics.

At reaching the site of the collapsed cave, the rescue team had set out on slowly removing the rubble and debris.

* * *

After a few minutes, a member of the rescue team came up to Hughes and saluted.

"Sir, we have just found a body near the entrance and it was identified as Daniel Hamilton. He is dead sir."

"Okay, continue searching, I want all the rubble removed and Colonel Mustang and Major Elric found" he said with a grim expression.

"If he was dead, do you think the Colonel and Ed will make it?" Havoc asked while looking at the destroyed cave.

"We have to hope for the best Havoc" replied Hawkeye and he grunted.

Around thirty minutes later, the rescue team yelled for the medics.

"We have found the Colonel and the Major!"

"How are they?" asked Hughes while starring as the medics lifted Roy and Edward onto stretchers to take them to the awaiting ambulances.

"They are alive but in danger sir. Especially Colonel Mustang, apparently he shielded Major Elric with his body." replied one of the medics.

 _That's so like Roy_ thought Hughes.

"Okay thank you. Make sure they are taken to the hospital as soon as possible. Dismissed"

"Yes sir!" he said before running off.

"Brother!" Alphonse yelled, moving towards the stretcher on which his brother was laid upon and loaded into the ambulance before a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Alphonse, let them do their work, we will just slow them down." Riza said softly.

"Do you think they will be okay?" he asked, now sounding every bit of the thirteen years old child he is.

"They are strong Al, we have to believe in them, alright?" Maes replied after he was done giving orders to his team to wrap the place up and transfer Daniel's body to Central Head Quarters.

He received a subtle nod from Alphonse and patted his arm before looking at Havoc and Hawkeye.

"Okay, come on we will go to the hospital in the car." He said as he gazed at the departing ambulances. Hopefully, they had made it in time to save them because if any of them died, Maes wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

* * *

 **Hehehe, another cliff hanger XD**

 **Sorry for not including much about Roy and Ed in this chapter, this is just like an interlude kinda thing. But no worries, I won't have you wait another week.**

 **I am going to post the final chapter in 4 days**

 ***Next update: 14** **July 2017, Friday.**

 **See ya then!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey again guys! I am back with the last chapter of this story! (Let's please ignore the fact that I am a couple hours late XD) Anyways, don't blame me for anything cause I put a warning about possible character death…**

 ***Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do not own the profile picture. I do have permission from 'wild-springflower' to use her story. All I own is the rest of the plot.**

 ***Pairings: None**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

They have been waiting in the hospital for an antagonizing two hours now. Both Edward and Mustang were undergoing surgeries. Over the course of those two hours, Mustang went into cardiac arrest twice but they managed to get his heart functioning again. The four occupants of the waiting area were sitting anxiously, Havoc was chewing on an unlit cigarette, Hughes was wiping at his glasses and Hawkeye was trying to not let too much of her emotions show on her face but it was obvious she was worried sick while Alphonse was staying as still as a statue.

A few minutes later, a young doctor came up to them with spectacles perched on his nose, holding a clipboard.

"Who's here for Edward Elric?" he asked.

"We are, doctor" said Hughes as he stood up and gestured to the rest before shaking hands with the doctor.

"How is he? How's brother?" asked Alphonse, startling the doctor at his sudden movement and the young voice that emitted from such an intimidating looking armour.

"Don't you worry, young Edward is going to pull through" he smiled softly at Alphonse before turning to Hughes, going back to looking professional.

"Mr. Elric has multiple broken ribs and gashes all over his body. He also has a broken wrist but what I am most concerned about is his head injury. He has a moderate to a mildly severe concussion, so we want to keep monitoring him until we are sure he is going to stay stable. We will have him stay at the hospital for at least ten days. You can visit him in his room but I would like you to stay quiet and let him wake up on his own. He will probably come around in an hour or two."

"Thanks doctor, your help is greatly appreciated. May I ask if you know anything about the status of Roy Mustang? We bought him in along with Edward." asked Hughes.

"Yes, the patient is still in the operation room; the staff working on him were facing problems but I assure you that they will do their best. The doctor in charge of his surgery will be meeting you as soon as they are done."

"Alright thank you doctor, I am sure you have work to attend to so we won't hold you up any longer" Hughes informed him gratefully.

"No problem, I was just doing my job. I wish you all the best." said the doctor, before taking off.

Once he left, Hughes turned towards Alphonse.

"Al, you can go sit with your brother" Hughes said.

"What about the Colonel?" Al asked hesitantly.

"It's alright; we will come inform you once he is out of surgery or if anything happens. We already put in a request to put Ed and Roy in the same room, so don't worry" Hughes told Al warmly and gave a pointed look to Havoc who nodded and caught Al's arm.

"Come on Al, let's go stay with Ed so he will have someone with him when he wakes up, I am sure he will want you to there." Havoc said gently as Al nodded and left with him.

Hawkeye and Hughes sighed before returning back to their seats to continue waiting for Roy's surgery to be over.

* * *

It was almost an hour before Ed started showing signs of consciousness. He tried opening his eyes but it felt that something was sticking his eyelids together, right after managing to open them, he shut them back tightly due to the very bright light causing his head to hurt like hell.

"Brother!" Al called but his voice sent daggers of pain into Ed's skull and he groaned.

"Alphonse, let him take his time" Havoc slowly whispered to Al.

After the pain in his head started somewhat subsiding, he tried pushing himself up.

"Colonel…" he muttered faintly.

"Easy chief, you just came out of surgery" Havoc told him as he cautiously pushed him back.

"Havoc?" Ed asked, blinking rapidly to get his blurry vision to focus.

"Yeah kid it's me"

"Brother! How are you feeling? Are you alright? Do you need anything-" his frantic rambling was cut off by his brother's hoarse chuckle. "Calm down Al, I am fine" Ed said trying his best to smile at his younger brother then he reached over to affectionately knock Al's chest plate.

"Mustang… the colonel, where is he?" he turned to Havoc and asked urgently as he recalled what happened before everything went black.

"The Colonel is still in the operating room, we don't know much about his condition yet" Havoc said, trying not to worry Ed too much and apparently Alphonse picked up on it because he didn't say anything.

"Brother you should rest, the First Lieutenant and Mr. Hughes are waiting for his surgery to be over so they will come tell us if anything happens and the hospital is placing the Colonel in the same room as you." Alphonse said slowly.

Any other day, Edward would have complained about staying at the hospital, let alone sharing his room with Mustang but given the circumstances and the danger Mustang was in _because Ed wasn't stupid and he picked up on Al and Havoc trying to hide it from him_ so he just sighed and closed his eyes.

* * *

The next time he woke up, it was to the sound of the door opening and the hushed voices of Hughes, Hawkeye, Havoc and Al talking quietly.

"Is the Colonel's operation done?" asked Al.

"Yes, his surgery was just over, they will be getting him here in a bit" replied Hawkeye, a little bit more relieved now that the Colonel was at least out of the worst of it.

"How is he?" asked Havoc.

"Well he is better; at least his heart didn't fail a third time." Hughes said sighing, oblivious to Ed listening to them, whose heart almost skipped a beat at hearing that.

"Anyways, he had a mildly severe concussion and several broken ribs as well, but because he took the majority of the blow, a rib punctured one of his lungs. His right shoulder was dislocated, a lot of his muscles and ligaments were torn and his back was pretty messed up too – many bruises and wounds but thankfully there were no spinal injuries or anything permanent. They will keep him in the hospital for three weeks though in order to avoid any further complications."

"He shielded me, didn't he?" Edward asked, making them aware of his consciousness, as he vaguely remembered Mustang throwing himself at him.

"Ed?!" exclaimed Hughes startled that he heard them, they all thought he was still asleep.

"It's not your fault Edward, the Colonel did what he thought was right" spoke Hawkeye, knowing his _bad_ habit of making everything his fault somehow.

"Yeah, look where that got him!" snapped Edward but grimaced soon after as the action strained his broken ribs.

"Calm down Ed or you will hurt yourself more." said Hughes sympathetically, letting Ed cool down instead of talking him out of his thoughts _there will be time for that later._

It was soon after, that Roy was wheeled in on another bed, covered in bandages and the customary hospital outfit. He had an oxygen mask, to reduce the exertion on his injured lung and had an IV line inserted on his right hand. Mustang remained unconscious for the whole time Hughes and the others were there, although he was doing good enough that they took him off the oxygen mask. By eight at night, everyone was asked to leave as the visiting hours were up. After some protests they were allowed to stay till ten but no one was able to get permission to stay overnight as _both patients were in a bad condition and needed their rest_ as the staff put it. Hawkeye phoned the office to let the rest of the team know everything and told them that they won't be able to visit before the morning. Each of them then headed to their apartments and Hughes invited Al to stay over at his place, who politely and gratefully accepted his offer.

* * *

Ed had woken up by mid night and couldn't fall back asleep although he was still feeling pretty exhausted. After a long two hours, just as he was about to finally drift off, groaning from the bed across the room startled him awake. He gazed at Roy's bed to see the man sluggishly moving.

"What on Earth happened?" Mustang muttered under his breath as he settled back into the bed, resigning to the fact that he couldn't move.

As the memories flooded back to him _the cave, Daniel, the collapse and Ed's alarmed expression._

"Edward!" he yelled in a raspy voice before falling into a coughing fit.

"Hey Colonel" Ed called out.

Roy looked over, relaxing in relief upon seeing that Ed was _more or less_ alright _._

"We are at the hospital, huh? How are you feeling?" asked Roy.

"I am fine! I am not the one whose heart stopped twice!" Ed snarled angrily.

 _Heart stopped twice, what the hell is he saying -_ then it clicked that Ed was talking about him. _That bad, huh?_ Now he understood why he felt so awful, it was as if he was run over, not that what happened was of much difference.

"Well I am sorry, I didn't exactly want that to happen, you know" Roy replied, slightly annoyed at Ed's accusing tone.

"Why did you cover me, you could have freaking died! I didn't ask you to protect me Mustang!"

"So what did you want me to do? Let you die?" Roy snapped back.

"I wouldn't have died!"

"Yeah and how are you so sure? Both you and I know that you would have died if you were hit head on, you were in a pretty bad shape before the whole damn thing collapsed, look what it did to me and I was in a far way better condition than you" _And your body is far more smaller, and suddenly it didn't feel funny anymore because Ed probably wouldn't have stood a chance if he didn't help him._

"I don't care! you can't just do something like that!"

"Edward, I wouldn't have left you to die, at least for Al's sake, do you know what would your death do to him?!" _Do to me._

"But-"

"Just shut up Fullmetal! I bought you into the military so the least I could do is at least keep you alive!" Roy finally yelled. Ed's eyes widened at his statement before continuing.

"You didn't force me into it Mustang. I did it out of my own free will, I need the resources to get Al's body back and the military was the only way."

"But it is a fact that you wouldn't have joined if I didn't offer it to you."

"You know I would have-"

"I know you _wouldn't_ have, no child would think that the military would accept him just like that and no sane person would go to the military when he committed the biggest taboo there is, Edward" Roy stated pointedly knowing full well that he won that argument.

"Is that why you apologized?" Ed asked more out of curiosity than anything but at Roy's confused expression he elaborated "Back in the cave, 'I am sorry, Ed', that's what you said before it crumbled and buried us"

"Yes, pardon me for thinking that that might have been our last moments" he murmured.

"Still, I don't blame you Mustang, you don't have to protect me" Ed said looking away.

"I know, maybe I don't have to but I want to, so that's that" Roy stated boldly before realizing how sappy that sounded.

Ed gave him an amused look while trying to cover that odd bubbly warm sensation swelling in his chest.

"Thank you, Colonel" he said with as much gratitude as he could muster up, catching the man off guard because Edward Elric didn't thank people, he just _didn't. But the man did deserve it, he saved his life after all_ ,

"You're welcome" he replied, masking his surprise, however with an unknowing smile gracing his features.

Edward then gave him a devilish grin "You are still an arrogant, manipulative bastard though!"

"And you are still an annoying little brat." Roy said as he smirked.

* * *

 **Oh man finally! I am done with the last chapter, it actually turned out longer than I expected but I didn't kill anyone so yay! XD**

 **Hope you enjoyed the story. Thanks for all your support, bye! =D ~DarkFlameFantasy**


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